Of Ice Planets, Sock Battles and Braids
by maidenofendor
Summary: In the midst of a day off on Hoth, our favorite desert born hero goes off to find his favorite princess. As usual, everything happens to him. Set directly before ESB


If anyone was strolling through the rebel base located on the small frozen hell mildly named "Hoth", maybe carrying whatever scarce supplies had been dug up, a message, or were a pair of trigger happy flyboys from the Rogue squadron chasing each other with dirty socks, and went past an ice wall, the back wall, it turns out, in a little carved out corridor, the lair of the infamous "Ice Princess" herself, one might even stop at the ruckus arising from inside the room. But, as most rebels and dirty socks failed to venture into the tucked away corridor, you wouldn't even notice the interesting events that occurred when a bored, half-frozen farm boy with a laser sword hid out in his favorite friend on base (excluding Han, captain of a hunk of junk, with a smirk that melts any female pilot's heart and maybe Chewbacca, his faithful copilot), scratch that, his favorite _female_ on base, Ms. Rebel Princess herself.

—

Luke was cold. Really damn cold. Not even his thickest pair of socks, and every blanket he could find managed to bring any warmth into his desert raised body. So, as any aspiring Jedi stuck on an ice ball would do, he went off to find his main supporter, Leia. She was always willing to listen to his stories about back home, and about Ben, and about his hopes to become a Jedi like his father before him. Plus, her room always seemed a little warmer, but maybe that was the warmth of her oversized rebel heart. (kept chilled to most roguishly handsome space pirates)

So, avoiding Wedge and Hobbie's latest sock battle over a dumb topic, probably a piece of flimsy again, Luke set off through the frozen hallways of the Rebellion's current base. Soon, he managed to arrive at his favorite princess's door, which he promptly knocked on.

Leia cracked the door open, peering one doe-like chocolate eye out. Open seeing it was Luke and not a certain space pirate she had won a screaming match with only moments ago, she hurriedly opened the door fully and skirted Luke in, sitting him down on her bed, and wrapping him in every blanket she had. She knew his desert risen soul couldn't take the cold, and had stored every blanket she came across for the sole reason of her companion's comfort. Satisfied now the he looked like an Alderaanian mountain bunny, she sat on the now bare makeshift mattress.

"What did you want to talk to me about Luke?"

Luke was basking in the heat he finally felt returning to his system.

"Nothing important, I was just bored and pretty cold."

Leia grinned. Some things never changed.

"Well, what can I do to relive some boredom for you?" Leia inquired.

Luke gazed around the practically bare quarters, the bed, a box of personal items, a rack of snowsuits and a extremely cluttered desk were all that decorated the frozen room. Not much entertainment to be found. The he returned his focus to Leia, or more accurately, her intricately braided hair. He had been in her rooms enough to know that her hair took ages to brush out and was extremely long, trailing along her hips at it's full length.

He awkwardly cleared his throat. "Could you teach me how to braid hair? Like, how you do it."

Leia couldn't hold back a few giggles that escaped her mouth but nodded.

Luke watched as she released her flowing hair, in a large chestnut wave. She ran a comb through it a few times and then began her instructions.

"Yes three pieces just like that-"

"No, that goes over, not like that-

"Perfect, just pull that piece-"

Throughout the process, Luke tried his best to focus in on his task on not let his mind wander off to places including: What if his aunt Beru could see him now, crosslegged on a makeshift bed, plaiting a girl's hair like some sort of slumber party? Or even worse, what his uncle Owen-.

Now, if the young Jedi had done this a few months into the future, post-visit to a small green alien and much more in-tune to his Force senses, he may have detected the smuggler stalking down the hallway to Leia's room, mostly to apologize for what he said earlier (she wasn't _really_ an ice cube with the appearance of an angry bantha and the temper of a Correlian crystal scorpion)  
But alas, our young hero didn't sense him approaching. He was much too focused anyway, just intricately placing a few pins to hold his rather clean and well-done braided crown to the princess' head, with a small lock of hair clamped between his teeth, as he had yet to place it.

So when Han Solo pushed open the door to Leia's room, he got quite the shock. Little naive farm boy Luke, sidled rather intimately beside Leia with his hands in her hair, a strand nipped between his teeth, their faces dangerously close. Han felt not only jealous, but rather disturbed on how quickly Luke had managed to get the girl…

Leia groaned as Han walked in, unannounced, and tried to decide the degree of shock that was splayed over Solo's face, but most importantly what damage control could be done.

"I'm not even going to ask."

It seemed, on the frozen hell chosen for a base, the best damage control was done in the midst of a sock battle, with a confused smuggler, a princess with her hair half braided, a blushing desert rat and a bemused Wookie.

Ah, the fun of the days off on Hoth.


End file.
